Roll of flexible plastic bags in partible sequential continuity,the individual bags having respectively echeloned filamentary closure facilities



Dec. 2, 1969 J.'-H. PAXTON 3,

ROLL OF FLEXIBLE PLASTIC BAGS IN PARTIBLE SEQUENTIAL CONTINUITY, THE INDIVIDUAL BAGS HAVING RESPECTIVELY ECHELONED FILAMENTARY CLOSURE FACILITIES Filed Sept. 20, 1968 551.1. FA 2. Fail 3.

IN VE N TOR.

JERRE H. PAX TON l6 ATTORNE).

United States Patent ROLL 0F FLEXIBLE PLASTIC BAGS IN PARTIBLE SEQUENTIAL CONTINUITY, THE INDIVIDUAL BAGS HAVING RESPECTIVELY ECHELONED FILAMENTARY CLOSURE FACILITIES Jerre H. Paxton, P.O. Box 2098, Yakima, Wash. 98902 Filed Sept. 20, 1968, Ser. No. 761,155

Int. Cl. B65d 83/00, 27/10, 27/12 US. Cl. 20656 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A roll of flexible plastic bags in partible sequential continuity, the individual bags of which are provided with filamentary closure facilities extending transversely of the bag which are substantially thicker than the film comprising said bags, and in which said closure facilities are in echeloned or laterally staggered relation with each other to distribute the thickness of said closure facilities relatively uniformly throughout said roll.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary object of the present invention is to provide a roll of flexible plastic bags in which the individual bags are equipped with filamentary closure facilities which conventionally embody a two-ply paper tape between the layers of which a flexible wire is trapped lengthwise, this closure being readily bent around the bunched neck of a bag and the ends brought together and twisted so as to tightly close the neck of the bag and confine and preserve the contents thereof. A particular object of the invention is to so provide the individual bags of such a roll with this particular type of closure facility as to prevent a concentration of the closure facilities in any particular area of the roll and thus produce a distortion in the roll such as would cause a particular portion of the latter to bulge excessively beyond the general contour of the roll.

To effect these objects, the invention provides the aforesaid facilities in such a roll of bags in a manner illustrated in the preferred embodiment disclosed herein, whereby a roll of 100 bags is formed to embody such closure facilities without any substantial irregularities being manifest in the cylindrical shape of the roll due to the presence therein of the aforesaid closure facilities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a roll of flexible plastic bags comprising a preferred embodiment of the present invention, this view illustrating straight conventional twist-tie filamentary bag closures applied to the front faces of the two endmost bags of the roll with said closures in echeloned relation to each other which illustrates the manner in which said closures are applied to all the bags in said roll without substantially thickening the diameter of the roll and uniformly spreading throughout the roll whatever thickness is added thereto by the provision of said closures on said bags.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a tubular web used in forming the roll shown in FIGURE 1 with this web extended in flattened form to illustrate how the filamentary closure facilities applied to successive bags in said roll are staggered laterally relative to each other in sequences of nine bags.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the manner in which the neck of a bag removed from said roll may be readily closed by a customer by application thereto of the filamentary bag closing facility provided on said bag in the present invention.

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FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of one of the bags after this has been removed from said roll while the same is still empty.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring specifically to the drawings, the invention is there shown as embodied in a roll 10 of bags 11. The roll 10 is preferably manufactured from a tubular web 12 made of thin polyethylene film or similar plastic material, by transversely sealing and perforating said web at uniform intervals as the web passes by a given point in its linear travel towards another point where said web is formed into the roll 10 by winding said web on a core 13 which is rotatably mounted on a shaft 14. The transverse sealing operation forms a seal 15 closing the bottom of one of the bags 11 and the perforating operation produces a line of perforations 16 adjacent said seal 15 which weakens both layers of the tubular web 12 along the line of these perforations so that the lowermost of the bags in the web 12 may be separated from the next bag thereto by jerking on said lowermost bag.

At a suitable station provided between the point where said web is transversely sealed and perforated and the point where said web is wound up to form roll 10, a suitable filamentary twist-tie bag closure 17 is applied to each one of the bags produced in said web by said sealing and perforating step. This closure is preferably attached by the application of a spot of glue 18 to a middle portion of said closure and the latter applied to one of said bags so that the closure extends transversely of the Web 12.

As clearly shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, the filamentary closures 17 thus attached to bags 11 in the roll 10 are applied in successively echeloned relation with each other so that in the roll 10 these closures will be distributed throughout the roll in a manner which will not introduce an undue thickness or bulging into any particular portion of the roll. In the preferred embodiment of the invention disclosed in the drawings, the lateral shifting of the position in which the filamentary closures 17 are successively applied to the bags 11 of the roll 10 is such that each individual echelon of said closures covers a series of nine bags and then the position of the closure on the next following bag shifts to the opposite side of the bag and another echelon of nine closures starts.

Following the manufacture of the bag roll 10 by the method above described, the roll is removed from shaft 14 and packaged for shipment to a place of consumption. This generally will be a supermarket which will provide suitable fixtures at various places in the market for pivotally mounting a roll 10 by trunnions extending into opposite ends of the core 13 so that a customer may readily supply himself with one of the bags 11 by seizing the lowermost bag and giving it a jerk which will readily tear the web 12 along the line of perforations 16 at the top of this bag and thus free the bag for the customers use.

Each such bag, of course, will be provided with one of the filamentary twist-tie bag closure 17 in one of the nine positions in which these are applied to said bags. In each of these positions the filamentary closure is disposed along a transverse line whereby the closures are always at a uniform distance from the open upper end 26 of a bag just separated from the roll 10. The upper portion 27 of each bag which lies between the upper end 26 thereof and the closure 17 may be referred to as the neck portion of the bag and is the portion shown in FIGURE 3 which has been bunched together and subjected to the encircling and twist-tying action of the filamentary closure 17 provided on said bag.

bunching said neck portion together at the point of attachment of said closure to said bag and wrapping said closure around said neck portion and twisting the ends together to tightly confine said neck portion at the point where said closure is attached to said bag,

What is claimed is:

1. A roll of flexible plastic bags for dispensing individual bags one at a time, each of which bags is provided with a filamentary twist-tie bag closure for use in closing said bag, said roll comprising.

an endless tubular Web of thin, flexible, plastics ma- 5 terial such as polyethylene film, said web being provided with a transverse heat seal and a transverse line of perforations which are placed relatively close together and are provided at uniform intervals in said web to divide the same into plastic bags i partible sequential continuity, the separation of one of said bags from said web being accomplished by the rupture of the portions of the web remaining unsevered at one of said lines of perforations, and thereby effecting the opening of the adjacent end of said closures being attached to the respective bags of said roll with adjacent closures echeloned transversely in relation to each other in said roll so as to diflfuse the material of said closures throughout said roll and prevent an undue distortion of said roll by concentration of said closures in any one portion thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS the bag thus separated from the web, a substantial 2,332,637 10/1943 Heywood 22969 portion of the length of each such bag adjacent said 2,722,993 11/1955 Gerber et al. 229--69 opening being referred to hereinafter as the neck 2,980,314 4/1961 Adams 22963 portion thereof; and 20 3,194,124 7/1965 Warp 22969 a series of filamentary twist-tie bag closures, one for 3,412,926 11/ 1968 Bostwick 229-63 each of the bags in said roll, said closure being attached to the outer face of said bag at a location spaced from the upper end of said bag by said neck portion thereof, the closing of said bag being effected by leaving said neck portion unencumbered and WILLIAM T. DIXSON, 1a., Primary Examiner 25 U.S. C1. X.R. 

